Well, my daughters were on a kick trying to germinate seeds from an orange and cherries. Now I have one orange seedling and two cherries that have started to sprout. Does anyone have any experience with these thing actually producing fruit? I've always heard that they would be sterile...so? Don't know if I should continue growing them. Also, the orange almost looks like a twin...see the picture has two little sprouts from one seed... any suggestions?
thanks
They should produce fruit, but it may not taste as good as the originals since the original fruits were likely hybrids that may not come true from seed. They might taste good though, you never know until you let them grow up and try so I'd say as long as your girls have an interest in it I'd keep growing them. Seed grown trees can sometimes take a while to get around to bearing fruit though, so it's always possible by the time they get around to fruiting the girls will have lost interest--things like strawberries or vegetables will provide quicker gratification if they want to be able to eat the fruits of their labors sooner.
I would certainly hate to discourage anyone from growing plants! But, with fruit trees in Texas, everything's about climate. Oranges won't survive many hours below freezing (I know, it doesn't seem to get cold very often) and cherries need more cold (i.e. "chilling hours") than Austin receives to produce a crop. I have to agree with ecrane3's suggestion for seeing gratifying results. However, if you have the dedication to grow the orange trees in containers and protect them during cold weather I'd say go for it!
The only fruit I've grown from seed is papaya (which is the only way you can grow it, I guess). My Julie mango is grafted, and ecrane3 is right - superior fruit trees are grafted to rootstock for best taste and preserve cultivar.
